Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I found this very cute idea on Not Martha. It is a great blog and it has a very thorough tutorial on this. You will need All Ready pie crust, pie filling, and small Ball jars. One package of crust and one can of pie filling made 6 pies.

These short, wide-mouth jars were my favorites.

Press pie crust into the jar.

Fill 3/4 full with desired filling. (This is more than 3/4 full and I don't recommend it)

Cover with more pie crust and seal edges. Do cut-outs if desired. You can put the tops on the jars and freeze them at this point if you want to. You can then give it as a little gift for the recipient to bake themselves.

I also tried it in ceramic heart baking dishes.

You can brush the tops with beaten egg if you want to in order to give them more of a golden crust. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden on top and inside.

I served them warm with Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

If you place the tops on them while they are hot from the oven, they will seal and keep for several months unrefrigerated. How cool is that??

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Who doesn't love chicken noodle soup? Especially on a frigid December night like tonight. Gil has a cold and really has felt bad for the past couple of days. I decided to make chicken noodle soup to help him feel better faster. I served it with Roasted Red Pepper Cheese sandwiches. He is now completely cured.

1. Simmer chicken in a medium saucepan until tender, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool and shred.

2. Strain the water from that pan into a larger saucepan. Add remaining ingredients except for pasta. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. Add pasta and cook on medium high until pasta is done, about 20 minutes. You can cook the pasta in a separate pot if you want to. I liked the simplicity of cooking it all together. Just be sure and taste the pasta and make sure it is cooked through.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

In a previous post, I mentioned the Caroline House, a beautiful home that I toured in which each room was decorated for Christmas. One trend that I noticed throughout the house was, not only the use of gold tones, but the use of layering on the tables. I decided to go through all my table linens and see what I could come up with.

As a base, I used a cream colored cloth:

On top of that, I placed a bronze colored cloth which was actually for a round table:

On top of the bronze cloth, I placed a chocolate brown suede-like cloth:

As a finishing touch, I placed a gold throw diagonally on the top. I also used this throw on my Christmas table last year.

To pull in all the colors, I used this place mat as the base for my centerpiece:

Then I placed a charger with candles that I decorated with beads and ribbon in the center. (I posted how to do this in my post called Candles with a Sparkle). I grouped several vintage-looking ornaments with a beaded garland around the candles:

I wanted something different for my napkins, so I folded them into thirds lengthwise and pulled them through the napkin ring:

Then I flipped the napkin over and tucked the ends in between the dinner plate and the charger. It made it look like a bow:

Monday, December 10, 2012

This is another amazing recipe I found in my library book, Eating Well for a Healthy Heart. This was actually a monumental recipe for me because it is the first time I have ever used turkey sausage. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I plan to replace the beef sausage in all my recipes with turkey sausage. It is 100 fewer calories per serving. The recipe also called for Cajun seasoning and I tried a new brand by Luzianne. I really liked it as well and highly recommend it. Very tasty.

1. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage with onion and garlic until sausage is browned and onion is tender. Add cajun seasoning and cook for about 1 minute more.2. Add flour and cook, stirring to coat the onion and sausage, until the flour starts to brown, about 1 minute.3. Add tomato, chicken broth, okra, and rice, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

I found this soup recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Two of the ingredients are spinach and red bell pepper, hence the name "Christmas confetti." You could, of course, serve it any time of the year. It has a mild flavor with a touch of nutmeg. The croutons make a fun accompaniment, and are cut into shapes with Christmas cookie cutters.